Family dynamics and changes also happen  because of career changes and role changes.  The roles within a family may change suddenly because of job loss, relationship changes or even death of a spouse or partner.  Lets address the death of a partner or spouse.  This could be sudden and unexpected.  There are similarities between divorce and death and we will address this later on. If death is the case be extra careful with yourself and any children.  Even if the death is expected this is a very traumatic time and may take a long time to recover from. Allow yourself to go through the grieving process.
 While the pain of losing a loved one will dull with time; it will not fully go away.  You will learn to live with the reality and some days will be better than others so be gentle with yourself and don't expect too much from yourself or children.  If you feel like it, after a little time you may think about joining a grief recovery group.  This can be beneficial to you and you might find a group for children as well.